In situ hybridization (ISH) involves the hybridization of a labeled complementary DNA, RNA or modified nucleic acid strand, i.e., a nucleic acid probe, to a specific DNA or RNA sequence that may be present in a tissue or cell specimen and the detection of the hybridized probe. Probes are commonly labeled with haptens for affinity-based, enzyme-mediated colorimetric detection, or fluorescent moieties for direct fluorescent detection (so-called fluorescence in situ hybridization; “FISH”), or radioactively labeled. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a well-established risk factor for the development of cervical carcinomas and precancerous lesions and, in recent years, the use of in situ hybridization for the detection of HPV genes or transcripts in human cervical cell specimens has been adopted.
What is needed and provided by the present invention are improved nucleic acid hybridization probes for in situ hybridization applications.